Deputy Speaker of the Parliament Elias Bou Saab described the second meeting, which took place today, Saturday, with the leader of the "Lebanese Forces" party Samir Geagea as "positive," noting that "today we made progress compared to the previous stage." He clarified, "We are discussing the previous steps leading up to the phase of exchanging names, and therefore I did not propose any name," revealing a third meeting to be scheduled later.
After the meeting, which lasted an hour and reviewed updates on the presidential file, with the presence of member of the "Strong Republic" bloc, MP Melhem Riachi, Bou Saab said: "The second meeting with Geagea is positive and comes in the context of the tour I am undertaking among political leaders, aiming to build bridges, understand, and engage in dialogue. Today we advanced a step from the previous phase based on agreed-upon foundations, and there are no longer any obstacles before the second agreed-upon step by the political entities."
He added, "I had previously met with Speaker Nabih Berri two days before my visit to Maarab today, and we hope to continue this in the coming days. I do not want to go into details, although there is positivity present, no one possesses a magical solution for electing a new president for the country. The positive aspect is starting to have dialogue with each other regarding the existing data and discussing what is possible and what is not," also revealing a third meeting to be scheduled later.
Bou Saab indicated that "building bridges includes all political factions with all political and parliamentary blocs," emphasizing that "I am not in the business of nominating or promoting any name for the presidency. I believe that some colleagues are working on unifying efforts and selecting a specific name, while I am working on an alternative plan in case the parties do not agree on a candidate name. Should we surrender?"
He pointed out that "we are thinking together, focusing on the dialogue with President Berri, the Forces, the leader of the Free Patriotic Movement Gebran Bassil, the head of the Marada Movement Sleiman Frangieh, Hezbollah, the Kataeb Party, the independents, Michel Moawad, and all political parties, regarding the roadmap that must be followed, and whoever wants to climb the ladder must do so step by step."
Bou Saab confirmed that “we are discussing the previous steps leading to the phase of exchanging names, and therefore I did not propose any name.” In response to a question, he recalled that "President Berri called for 11 sessions, and had any team secured the election of their candidate, he would have called for other sessions, but now the sessions have become folkloric. At any serious proposal, the Speaker of the Parliament will surely call for a new election session."
